


Fragmentation

by hauntedvoice



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Child Death, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-04-26 06:03:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4993063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hauntedvoice/pseuds/hauntedvoice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>‘They’ don’t sleep. ‘They’ don’t see. ‘They’ don’t speak.</p>
<p>‘They’ don’t care.</p>
<p>‘They’ listen and ‘they’ smell. ‘They’ kill and ‘they’ eat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 11

_“Let him go!” Kaito screamed despite the ever growing swarm of groaning ‘things’ in the road below._

_The perpetrator laughed, still holding Conan Edogawa over the ledge by the boy’s collar. “You know, you could have prevented this.” The kidnapper had been smart and removed all of Conan’s gadgets: bowtie, shoes, suspenders and glasses. Despite the little hope, Conan continued living up to his personality and fought to escape. It tore Kaito’s heart to be unable to move. Instead stuck watching as his detective dangled over a horde of flesh eating creatures reaching up towards him trying to rip into the boy that much sooner. “But I’m tired of waiting. Let’s rid ourselves of the burden, shall we?”_

_Kaito’s heart sank as he watched the person tilt their wrist up in slow motion before releasing the fistful of fabric. He struggled against his own captors, feeling his shoulders pop in and out of their sockets as he pulled. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes, locking with Conan’s blue set, as the boy fell through the air. In that last second before the detective disappeared from sight he had reached forward. Hoping against all hope that somehow, even with his small body, he’d be able to grab hold of the thief and live._

_Conan’s horrified shriek faded into the magician’s awareness. His own gadgets and tricks long removed from his person, hang glider and all, left no options. No matter how he pulled, struggled or thrashed he couldn’t get his arms free. The nature of Conan’s screams grew more desperate as the groans turned into more ravenous growls. Cries of fear shifted to cries of horrific pain and desperate pleas for Kaito. Even when the thief closed his damp eyes and turned away, he could still hear the faint sound of ripping flesh quickly taking place of the dying shouts._

_He screamed his lungs out collapsing to his knees in complete and utter-_

 

Kaito jerked awake in a light sweat. His breathing was labored and mind spinning from the nightmare. Before his heart could calm down he pawed his lap. Finding it uncomfortably empty and surprisingly cold his eyes darted around the small room. “S-Shinichi!” he called out, even in his worry he was careful not to be too loud. When nothing but silence answered him his panic rose. “Shinichi! Where are you!”

The thief shot off the couch, slung on his white suit jacket and pulled out one of his knives from under his pant leg. He held it reverse handed while his card gun was tight in the fingers of his other. Arms positioned over each other and ready for almost anything, Kaito proceeded through the small apartment.

Doors creaked opened as he gently peered passed them. Nothing. None. No! Every little inch and corner that revealed to be empty tugged at the magician’s heart strings. He couldn’t find his detective anywhere. The main door had been locked and all the windows remained shut. Fear from his dream clouded his mind as he ducked his head. “Shinichi… where did you go?”

“Idiot. I’m right here.” There was a soft thud of shoes falling onto carpet behind him. Kaito whirled around, watching as the detective turned to close the window he had just entered from. “What’s gotten into you, Kaito? You look spooked.”

Without saying another word the thief dropped his weapons and ran to his detective, scooping the boy into his arms for a much needed hug. “Shinichi! Thank god you’re alright! I thought I lost you…” the magician whined, nuzzling the little detective’s neck with affection.

“I wasn’t gone that long, besides you were still- Kaito! Relax, please! You’re c-crushing m…me!” Conan exhaled a deep breath, quickly taking in more oxygen before he started to feel light headed. Instead of the suffocating hug, the thief settled on burying his face into the detective’s fluffy hair.

There was a long pause before another sound was made in their temporarily borrowed 4th story apartment. The noise that broke the silence was a low whimper and a hitched breath. “Kaito?” Another soft whimper. “You don’t have to worry. I’m fine. I was careful.” The thief merely hugged Conan tighter, albeit not as bone snapping as before. “I uh… found us breakfast… and a chocolate bar for a special someone.” That got the thief’s attention.

Conan reached for the backpack he had eased in through the window before sneaking back in himself. He had been counting on Kaito still being asleep so he could surprise the magician with breakfast for once. Even if it was no longer a surprise, it felt so nice to be able to finally contribute in a way he was able to with it backfiring somehow.

After a few seconds of awkward fumbling, a certain thief’s arms never leaving Conan’s waist, he managed to extract a bag of freeze dried scrambled eggs and a king-sized chocolate bar. “Wooah! We’ll be eating well this morning that’s for sure. Great find, detective!” Kaito rested his chin on Conan’s shoulder. “… do I dare ask where you went to get this? Or how far?”

“Nah. That’s not really all that important, is it?” Conan placed the packages to the side and made a move to get up, only to be stopped in his tracks. “Kaitoooo, come _on._ Let go so we can eat.”

In response the magician merely leaned back, pulling the little detective with him until they were lying on the floor. “I think I like the idea of staying like this for a bit longer.” Kaito repositioned so Conan’s head was resting on his upper arm, his hand weaving through Conan’s hair as the other kept around his waist. Despite the groan he earned in return, Conan didn’t make a move to pull away. In the end, Kaito forgot to tell Shinichi about his dream.


	2. Day 13

“Alright, alright, fine! Where were we?” Kaito asked after a long exaggerated groan of fake annoyance. He couldn’t help snickering when Conan’s expression turned sour. “How are you so adorable!” The magician exclaimed, leaning up from his position sprawled out on the couch for a hug. One that was interrupted by a set of small hands pushing back against his face.

“In the tail end of ‘The Stock-Broker’s Clerk’. Should be about page-”

Kaito huffed, blowing a few loose strands of hair off his forehead as he stared at the ceiling. “If you know the exact page number then why aren’t you just reciting them to yourself? I’ve only read it twice compared to your probable hundreds.”

“I like hearing it in your voice. It’s a nice reprieve from the world outside… even with that stupid dramatic reading of yours.” Conan’s voice grew silent as he turned away, not willing to look Kaito in the eye after the obvious compliment. Especially since the night before he had been complaining about the bad voice acting.

Normally the magician would pick apart the words to further tease his detective but instead chose to leave them be. In the silence that followed he repositioned on the couch, stretching his legs out farther and swinging one up over the back edge. Once comfortable, he rested his hands over Conan’s knees, the boy still sitting ‘the normal way’ with his legs across Kaito’s waist. “Following his example,” the thief began, reveling in how the detective instantly relaxed. “… we threw ourselves upon it with all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the door with a crash. Rushing over it, we found-“

A loud banging sound cut through the otherwise quiet apartment, bringing any words about to come out of Kaito’s mouth to a screeching halt. The boys tensed, immediately glancing around for the location of the sound. Until it happened again and they were jumping to their feet, Conan ready to turn on his power-enhancing shoes and Kaito bringing out one of his knives. “The door.”

Both of them stepped around the couch, slowly inching their way towards the source of the disturbance. When they were within a meter Kaito moved in front of Conan and peered through the peephole. He flinched back, gulping down a nervous yelp. He quickly held up four fingers before motioning the detective away. The door was bolt and chained locked but with enough of ‘them’ up against it that wouldn’t matter. There were sounds of skidding feet against carpet out in the hallway, the thuds and poundings against the door multiplying in numbers and volume. Which in turn, only attracted more to their whereabouts.

When they broke into the apartment three days ago the hallway was clear. A few doors had been broken down with the soft huffs of breathing resonating from within. There was minimal blood splatter on the walls and while they hadn’t ventured throughout the building more than the one time it was nice knowing they weren’t living in a blood covered mess. Plus the severe lack of it helped the place smell better when they had to keep the windows closed. The particular apartment they picked was a gold mine. Whoever the owner had been graciously left the place with full cabinets and a stocked fridge. The latter of which didn’t matter as power in the apartment kept going on and off so most of the contents were spoiled.

If they didn’t take care of the currently growing problem the place would have to be sacrificed to the dead. Doing it alone in such an enclosed and tight space would prove difficult and needlessly dangerous. Since as soon as anyone tried to open the door ‘they’ would rush in, allowing no time to recover and fight. However, there was no way Kaito was going to let Conan take a single step closer to the door. There was no guarantee for his safety even if he closed himself into the corner with it. No matter what, Shinichi still had the strength of a child and pit up against one of those ‘things’ would only result in tragedy.

A blockade could work… only… moving the heavy furniture again, by himself, would take too long. Kaito hesitated with the newly formed plan, merely flinching towards the nearest piece before halting all movements to reconsider. There would only be one chance. Despite his ‘Immortal’ title, he and his detective really only had one life. No amount of worshipping to Lady Luck could change that.

The thief clenched his fists, jumping into action and painstakingly maneuvering a waist high wardrobe over the wooden flooring. The scrapping of the legs over the floor only made ‘them’ growl louder. He had just managed to get one of the smaller sides up against the door when he notice the presence beside him. “What are you doing!”

“I’m helping, you moron! Now push!” Conan countered back, his feet skidding along the floor helplessly. A cracking sound split through the air making the groans drastically increase in volume.

“No! Get back, it’s not safe!” Kaito had just leaned away from the wardrobe, pushing Conan out of the way, when the door slammed against the piece of furniture and sent it into the magician’s back. He lurched forward, the knife dropping from his hands from the sudden impact. He spun around just in time to see one of ‘them’ crawl over the wardrobe and lunge for him. It landed over him, arms haphazardly scraping at his chest as Kaito struggled to hold its face away. He grimaced as the creature’s rancid breath descended from its mouth every time its teeth clamped together. He could barely hear Shinichi call out for him above the incoherent groaning practically right beside his ears.

Kaito turned his head away, eyes searching for his weapon. With the current position, he wouldn’t be able to reach the other hidden under his pant leg without letting the thing have a bite. He was only able to make a single attempt to grab it before having to bring his arm back. Another one of ‘them’ had fallen through the doorway, adding more weight to the one pinning him to the floor. A pained grunt escaped his mouth as he tried to push it up. There was no telling if he’d have enough time to get his knife and take care of it if he shoved it off to the side.

A small form moved in the corner of his eyes as Kaito struggled. All too quickly the creature slumped forward, small specs of blood splattering down onto his face, and Kaito let out a breath of relief. “I might be small but I can still help.” Conan immediately helped push it off and pulled the magician a little ways from the failed barricade. “Are you-“ Conan began asking, already trying to pat Kaito down checking for injuries, when the door snapped open wider.

The two’s attention snapped up. The hallway was filled. ‘They’ were crowding around the door, pushing their way through while falling over each other. Both flinched at the sight, Conan gripping the handle of the knife tighter. There had to be at least two dozen congregating in the hallway. Kaito quickly got to his feet just as one of ‘them’ lost its balance and crashed onto the floor. The others behind kept moving, kicking the fallen one up against the blockade. With the present numbers, their weight began unknowingly pushing the wardrobe out of the way.

Panic surged in Kaito’s veins as he guided Conan back further into the apartment, the only place they could go with their only exit blocked. Kaito looked around for anything that might help them out of this situation. There was no way he could take them out all on his own while still keeping Conan safe. He needed a better guarantee then just making Conan hide somewhere, staying on top of the refrigerator, or just being behind him. It was then when his eyes landed on the window. Without a second thought, Kaito grabbed Conan’s wrist and pulled him towards it. Within seconds the window was open as far as possible and the magician lifted the detective up to the ledge.

The boy easily crawled through and onto the garden box hanging outside. Thankfully the next building’s fire escape was within jumping distance. He was already working through getting Kaito out when he heard wood moving against wood, the sounds of ‘their’ groaning growing strangely quiet. When Conan turned around he was face to face with the window glass. His eyes grew wide as realization hit. “No!” Conan cried, his hands darting to the finger holds. He managed to lift the window up only an inch before Kaito stopped it.

“I’m sorry. I know this is selfish but I won’t lose you.” Conan heard the thief say as his eyes began tearing up. Kaito was smart and fast, there was a chance he could make it. They would only have to be apart for a little bit… but it still felt like a final goodbye.

“D-Don’t you dare, you stupid thief!” Conan yelled, forgetting about ‘them’ in his distress. He hated ‘them’. It hadn’t even been two weeks since everything started and already so many were lost, so many were missing. No matter how much it annoyed him, he knew he stood no chance in whatever world they were apart of now. Not in his shrunken body. Not alone at least. “Don’t you dare leave me like this!” From the small number of times he had been alone, he was able to handle himself relatively well. He was small and that helped him weave through tight spaces but that was about the extent of the advantages. “Kaito! Please!” By that point he was hysterical. Tears streaked his face as he cried out, pounding against the glass in vain. After everything that had happened he didn’t want to lose Kaito too. The magician’s mere presence uplifted his spirits and made living in the new screwed up society, if one could call it that anymore, worth it. He didn’t know what he would do without him.

“There’s no time. Stay safe, Shinichi. I promise I’ll find you.” Kaito gave him one last smile before he whispered the same sweet three words he had said almost two weeks ago. “I love you.” Conan’s breath caught in his throat as he watched the magician fully close and lock the window.


	3. Day 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warning!**  
>  A new tag was added for this chapter. For those who might not have noticed and may be wary of it, the tag is "Child Death". Please be aware of this before you decide to continue.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair, _it wasn’t fair!_

Shinichi watched as best as he could through the glass. Cringing every time one of ‘them’ got too close to his thief. His eyes followed the magician as he fought his way through the mass, bodies falling to the floor in the wake. Kaito had cleared enough to be able to head out the door when one that had previously fallen stood up behind him. Shinichi had called out, hoping to get Kaito’s attention in time but it had been clear his voice wasn’t getting through the glass. The only thing he was doing was alerting any of ‘them’ outside to his presence.

One of ‘them’ stepped in front of the window, blocking Shinichi’s view just as Kaito disappeared into the mob. His voice hitched as worry drilled into his heart. He knew the magician was still on the move, no longer trapped in a corner but not being able to confirm Kaito’s safety and wellbeing for himself brought tears back to his eyes.

Fighting the urge to stay and figure a way back into the building, Shinichi turned towards the alley. The same one he had been using for the past few days. He unclipped his suspenders and wrapped one end around his arm. The other end was tossed across the alleyway to hook along the fire escape. Shinichi gave the line an experimental tug before jumping off of the garden box and vaulting to the side of the other building. A pair of feet landed softly and precisely against the brick wall. One glance down into the alley helped correct his position over the dumpster before unclipping the suspenders from the fire escape and tumbling down onto the thick plastic lid. He caught his footing awkwardly on the landing and slipped off the edge. Several of 'them' turned towards the noise and proceeded after it. Shinichi stumbled as he got up, a pained hiss slipped past his lips upon shifting his weight onto his left foot. A small patch of warmth coming from his shoulder where he smacked against the pavement also edged at his mind.

With one end of the alley already blocked Shinichi limped the other way towards the empty street. As he stepped out onto the sidewalk he only had a few moments to catch his breath. Down the street was a gathering horde of ‘them’, likely flocking to their location from the commotion made earlier. With the silence of the city nowadays, even the smallest sounds can travel far, bouncing off surrounding structures and producing a ripple-like effect as if the noises were a drop of water falling onto a lake’s calm surface.

As Shinichi ran down the less crowded part of the street, dodging and weaving out of ‘their’ reach, he couldn’t help glancing back at the apartment complex he and Kaito had rested at the last few days. He shook the dread and worry from his mind. Of course Kaito would be fine. The idiot dealt with snipers taking shots at him during every one of his heists, dealing with a small number of mindlessly inept… _things_ wouldn’t be a problem. Calling ‘them’ anything close to or related to ‘zombies’ felt so bizarre and frankly, wrong. The two of them quickly agreed not to refer to ‘them’ as the undead or zombies or anything of the like. They weren’t rotting corpses. Apart from the bites on their bodies, all of which ranged from mouth sized chunks of flesh missing to a simple circle with teeth marks, and the strange grey-like filter added over their complexions they looked normal. None of ‘them’ had ever spoken more then an indecipherable groan. However, on more than one occasion, Shinichi had observed their mouths moving and forming syllables but no words ever came out. It was as if their vocal cords were being restricted from forming coherent sounds.

Another one of ‘them’ stumbled out from a side street, completely cutting Shinichi off. The little detective reeled back, quickly picking himself up. He glanced back at where he came from and found the streets far too full to safely travel through. In the corner of his eyes, Shinichi spotted a broken window. The hole was small and in the very bottom corner, as if someone had carefully thrown a rock. He darted towards it, already taking his jacket off to crawl through. As he neared, he noticed all the shards of broken glass had already been broken off and swept away from the crawl space. With ‘them’ closing in, Shinichi had no other choice but to toss his jacket in and scrabble through the hole.

Several arms reached in after him and the boy rolled back, straight into the metal legs of a clothing rack. Shinichi gulped down a groan, his hand moving to hold his shoulder. Pant legs smoothed over and off his head as he sat up. It was much darker inside whatever store he escaped to than it was outside. Only small rays of light from the half moon peering through the thin gaps ‘they’ left as ‘they’ continued pawing at the window.

While catching his breath, Shinichi took the moment’s pause to inspect his ankle. A sigh of relief passed through his lips. Before he even took off his sock he could already tell it wasn’t swollen. After a few light movement exercises, Shinichi replaced his shoe and grabbed his jacket. His first few steps further into the store were awkward until he found the correct amount of pressure to put on each leg. His ankle may not be badly damaged or broken but it still hurt.

Thankfully the store was almost empty. Only once had he stepped around a clothing rack and spotted one of ‘them’ lingering close by. Shinichi had been careful not to make a sound and managed to slip by it unnoticed. The realization that the store was only one part of a bigger mall became apparent when he made out an open archway a couple of meters away in the darkness.

As soon as he stepped out and into the main walkway a body came crashing down onto the floor in front of him. The man’s head split open on contact, blood splattering out in a radius multiple feet around him. Upon closer inspection, Shinichi found several bites littering his skin. The head wound, while putting ‘them’ down for good, wasn’t too severe to be a several story fall. Shinichi whipped his head around and spotted a shadow moving away from the railing on the third floor directly above him. If he listened closely, he could make out a hushed frantic voice but exact words were lost as they flowed through the air.

It didn’t take long to locate a set of stairs two stores down and across from the one Shinichi emerged from. The sound of shoes running along the white tile flooring echoed sharply through the walkway. Conan rushed off the stairway and caught himself on the railing. He pulled himself up and searched the other side for any signs whoever had been there still was. By the time Conan reached the third floor, his eyes had successfully adjusted to the darkness and the first thing he spotted in was a pink headband moving back and forth. “Please get up guys… come on, we have to go…” Conan instantly recognized the voice. He hopped down and bolted for the nearest bridge to cross.

The scene before him was chilling. Ayumi had propped Mitsuhiko against the glass filling of the railing. The boy himself appeared to be passed out yet he was still clutching his left arm, streams of blood running through his fingers. Not too far away Genta laid on his side facing Conan’s direction. A huge chunk of flesh was missing from his right collar bone. A pace or two away from Genta was another one of ‘them’ lying on the floor, a long, thin, and bloodied bat sticking slightly out of ‘their’ head. “Ayumi?” Conan called out softly, unsure if he should step any closer.

The girl’s head slowly lifted from Mitsuhiko’s shoulder, her hands letting go of the boy’s shirt. “C-Conan?” Her eyes were red, tears quietly running down her cheeks. “Conan? Is that really you?” Despite her daze, Ayumi managed to get back onto her feet. She wiped her eyes and merely stared disbelieving of the sight before her.

“It’s me, Ayumi. What happened? Are you alright?” Conan took a few steps forward, eyes drifting between the three Detective Boys and held his arms out with a sad smile. At the invitation, Ayumi instantly ran into those arms. She wrapped her own around him and burst out crying. Conan could only pat her head as she sobbed, occasionally cooing at her. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her to be careful of her volume. Not after seeing the scene before him. Not after seeing the bites and what was going to inevitably happen to Genta and Mitsuhiko. Years of checking crime scenes and looking over the victim’s bodies for clues urged him to inspect the other two boys. While he hadn’t fully witnessed first hand what a bite did, he had enough to go on from the very first night of society’s downfall. Even as Kid desperately pulled the little detective into his arms and jumped off the roof of the skyscraper it wasn’t hard to figure out what happened to those they were forced to leave behind. Their screams following the two into the wind as they flew over the city in shambles…

“They… Genta and Mitsuhiko…” Ayumi pulled away from Conan. “We were hope… hoping to find some leftover food in… in the food court. When two of those zombies appear out of nowhere.” She shifted to look over at Genta. “He pushed me out of the way but got hurt in my place… M-Mitsuhiko killed it and fought with the other. We were about to push it over the edge when he got bit too…” Sobs wracked her body again and Conan gladly brought her into his arms once more. It was all he could do to comfort her.

After she had quieted down Conan spoke up. “Are you… are you alright?” He held her out in front of him and carefully looked her over, searching for any sort of sign.

“… I’m fine…. They protected me…” She buried her face in her hands. “It-It’s not fair.” Those words struck a cord, momentarily leading Shinichi’s mind back to his missing thief.

“Come on, Ayumi. We shouldn’t-“ Conan seemed to choke on his words, consciously trying not to look over at his bitten friends. Maybe if he had somehow found them earlier… if he and Kaito had spent just one more day looking for people they knew then maybe Genta and Mitsuhiko would still be walking around with smiles on their faces. “-shouldn’t stay here.” As he took her hand within his, Shinichi briefly wondered if this would be a similar scene Kaito would find him at. The thief had promised they’d meet up somehow but there wasn’t any evidence of which way Shinichi had ran. Let alone what building he entered or if he continued down the street. The only evidence that existed was the mass of ‘them’ gathered around that window. If ‘they’ filtered back into the road there would be nothing to go off from. Conan shook the thoughts aside and turned away from the depressing scene, already focusing on how to keep Ayumi and himself alive and safe until Kaito found them.

Conan only got a few steps before he felt a tug on his hand. “Ayumi?”

“Conan! Mitsuhiko- he’s okay! Look!” She cheered, a smile on her face as she turned to help the other boy up onto his feet.

“Wait! Ayumi, no he’s-!” Conan tried to pull Ayumi back, already watching what used to be Mitsuhiko reaching for her. Much too fast, a pair of bloodied hands enclosed around Ayumi’s leg. She barely had enough time to scream before a chuck of flesh was torn from her lower leg.

In her panic, Ayumi fell on her back dragging Conan down with her. She let out another scream as Genta emerged from the darkness towards the three of them as well. With the same strange speed, he latched onto her other leg despite her thrashing and tore into it. Ayumi’s shrieks of terror pierced Conan’s ears and heart. Guilt shaped like a knife stabbed him when he found himself trying to pry his hand away from hers. Even though it was self preserving instinct he was disgusted with himself.

The detective swallowed hard as he kicked his former friends away from Ayumi and quickly bent down to lift her into his arms. He mentally cursed his small stature as he ran, the weight of her trembling body already straining his muscles. The path to the stairs had been blocked by a couple of ‘them’, attracted by Ayumi’s screams. Hearing her staggered breathing come out in uneven gasps amplified Conan’s yearning to get to a place and tend to the bites. She was still okay. There had to be a chance. Ayumi was strong, she could still make it. Conan tried to keep thinking positively despite the trail of blood endlessly dripping from her ankles. He tightened his hold on her, pivoting around and passing through the half closed gate of the nearest store.

Conan carefully set Ayumi down behind one of the registers, the counters creating a perfect choke point in case they were attacked. He stripped off his jacket and placed it over her chest to help with any shock. “Ayumi?” Her breath hitched when he placed a gentle hand on her cheek. “Stay awake for me, okay? I promise I’ll be right back.” Conan didn’t move until she gave him an acknowledging sign.

Blue eyes rapidly surveyed the store shelves. “Please give me something useful!” he muttered under his breath as he travelled through the various aisles. Most of what he came across were power tools, manual carpentry tools, and construction accessories. It wasn’t until he reached one of the far aisles did he find rope, scissors, and pint-sized cloth bags. The detective snatched up two bundles of rope, a pair of scissors and the first seven bags he could reach. He promptly dumped all the useless contents onto the floor and sprinted back to the front with the meager first aid supplies.

When he returned, Ayumi was incredibly pale. The little streams of blood from her ankles had expanded into one big puddle. If she was still breathing her movements were almost impossible to see. “Ayumi…?” Conan called, stepping into the blood and kneeling beside her. Only when he brushed her bangs away from her forehead did she stir.

“Co… na…n?”

“It’s alright. Conserve your energy and try not to speak.” A soft smile spread across her features. “I’m going to try treating your wounds. It’ll hurt, but try to hang in there, Ayumi.” Conan shifted until he was kneeling by her feet, putting the rope and bags just outside the pool of red. Placing his hands on either side of the bites Conan lifted each leg onto his lap, elevating them above Ayumi’s heart. He took a few of the cloth bags and cut them along the folds. Watching her expression carefully, he held them tight against the open wound. Her face contorted in pain but not a sound escaped her mouth. “You’re doing great, just a little more.” Taking the scissors once again, he cut off pieces of rope and used them to gently secure the bags to her legs. With the longer sections he looped one around each of her thighs to help stop the blood flow.

The rest of the supplies were tossed to the side. The little detective returned his now blood stained hands to the cloth wrapped around Ayumi’s wounds and began applying an almost constant pressure. Blood had already soaked through the cloth and ran slick between his fingers. When he looked up Ayumi’s head had lulled to the side, no sign of pain on her face. “A-Ayumi?” Conan had no trouble hearing the dread and panic in his own voice. He hadn’t moved from his spot, still holding the red cloth tightly against her leg. His vision seemed to tunnel, eyes locked on Ayumi’s pale, unmoving body. “No… no… no, no no- Ayumi! You can’t be…”

The girl shifted and Conan froze. This had to be it. What truly happened when someone was bitten. He knew he had to leave but he couldn’t tear himself away. Not so soon after she passed. A distraught glance around his surroundings revealed only the scissors as a useful weapon to defend himself with if it came to that. It felt so wrong. How could he hurt someone, a friend, anyone, even given the circumstances? He couldn’t when it came down to it. Since day one he hadn’t been able to outright attack ‘them’. Not when 'they' still looked so _human._ Not when no one could confirm for sure, that ‘they’ were no longer themselves. He needed Kaito. The crazy magician who, no matter what stood before him, from day one always did everything he could to protect not only himself but Shinichi as well. Conan couldn’t do this by himself. Especially not with a friend staring back at him. The detective resolved to close his eyes and wait.

“Con..an.” The boy’s eyes flew open, relief washing over him as he saw Ayumi smiling back at him. “Th-thank you.. for-” Her voice was interrupted with a harsh cough that racked her body.

“You don’t need t-to thank me.” Conan could feel his throat tightening as he spoke. Everything they were saying, the words being exchanged sounded so much like the beginning of a final goodbye. “I’ll always do everything I can to protect you, Ayumi.”

She slowly shook her head. “No… I… I want to so…” Ayumi closed her mouth and swallowed hard. “Thank you… Conan for everything. For all those days… the Detect-tive Boys…. for… looking out for me…” Another cough halted her words. Conan noticed her eyes were no longer focused on him as her eyelids grew too heavy. With blood dripping still from his hands at a sluggish pace he knew there wasn’t anything else he could do anymore. There was too much blood on the floor. Conan carefully set her legs down and followed her beckoning hand. He took it without hesitation and forced a smile through tears as he listened to what were likely her last words. “P…p-please be careful…” Her smile soon faded along with all the tension in her body as Conan continued to hold onto her. That sparkle of life disappearing from her eyes not long after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually really like Ayumi.

**Author's Note:**

> While there is an underlying plot, it'll mostly be short drabbles of possible scenarios within the situation. I will be adding more characters as they appear.
> 
> If you have an idea or request, please send it my way!


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